DD has Air Force physical on Thursday

DD decided that she prefers Air Force to Coast Guard :shrug: and has her physical and all that happy stuff on Thursday. I'm really glad that she's going for it, but there may be a problem because she had knee surgery few years ago.

The surgery was to correct retropatellar syndrome. She has COMPLETELY recovered -- runs for miles and miles with not even a twinge -- but the recruiter said that she has to "sell them" on her knees.

The kid scored 93 on the test they give, she's in great physical shape, and she REALLY wants to get in. If she is accepted, she will have over 120 career options to look at. (The recruiter seems to want her to go linguist or intel.)

Any prayers and happy thoughts going her way on Thursday are appreciated.

Any insight on how to convince them of the stability of her knees and/or the recruitment/enlistment process is also appreciated! :drillsgt:

My ex-husband was Air Force. The only bad thing is that she will be sent overseas alot. My brother retired Coast Guard(switched over from Army) and after 16 years had only done 2 years on a ship. Other than that he was on land. I hope everything goes well for your daughter. I know about knee trouble and I hope she can overcome the obstacles and see her dreams come true.

My ex-husband was Air Force. The only bad thing is that she will be sent overseas alot. My brother retired Coast Guard(switched over from Army) and after 16 years had only done 2 years on a ship. Other than that he was on land. I hope everything goes well for your daughter. I know about knee trouble and I hope she can overcome the obstacles and see her dreams come true.

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Yeah, I was really pro-Coast Guard, but... :shrug: She's going to do what she's going to do. The kid is kind of stubborn that way. Okay, she's REALLY stubborn. But at least she'll get to see the world.

The knees are fine. Better than fine, actually. Just hope the Air Force sees them that way. At one time, I had nearly lost hope that she'd ever have a normal life. After the surgery, it was like night and day! The kid who could barely swim for the pain now runs for the sheer joy of it. 5 miles are NOTHING to her, and it's been a couple years now. They are better than new, which is another blessing.

Thanks for the good wishes. I am leaving it in God's hands. Okay, I'm TRYING to leave it there. It's hard -- this is my only daughter!

Will send "acceptence" thoughts out to your daughter on Thursday, Pony. All branches of the military are strongly looking for people at this time; there is likely a strong chance that they will send your daughter to their own doctors for testing and more then likely be glad to have her.

I can understand any parent not wanting their child to be in the military and in a place of conflict, that's very much a given. But the opportunities to see much of the rest of this planet should never been overlooked because of our fears of what might happen. As difficult at it is to accept - conflict or possible conflict is actually the foundation upon which our military is built.

Thanks so much! I know she will be encouraged by your prayers, thoughts, and insights (especially about the knee and the Navy!)

I really am glad she's finally DOING it. It's taken quite a while, and I was beginning to think she was just making it all up to keep us off her back. Guess she had to wait until she was good and ready.

If you can get a letter from her orthopedic surgeon stating that she is fully recovereed and fit for military service, that would go a long way. I did a similar thing when I joined the army about a year ofter having abdominal surgery for a burst appendix (big long incision straight up and down). The surgeion wrote me a letter stating that I was completely recovered and they accepted it without a hitch.

Congrats on your daughters choice. I did 20 years active duty in the CG, but my second choice would have been the AF. Was her surgery microscopic? I was a recruiter my last 2 years and the 4 before that, I was at the St. Louis MEPS. You can be VERY proud of your daughters ASVAB score, as the highest score you can make is a 99. Any questions you may have about the MEPS process feel free to ask, and I'll do my best. Tell your daughter to get a good nights sleep the night before, as this will be a very long day, and she needs to pay attention. Also when selecting a career field think how this will affect her duty locations and job experience in the civilian workplace. Just food for thought.

Congrats on your daughters choice. I did 20 years active duty in the CG, but my second choice would have been the AF. Was her surgery microscopic? I was a recruiter my last 2 years and the 4 before that, I was at the St. Louis MEPS. You can be VERY proud of your daughters ASVAB score, as the highest score you can make is a 99. Any questions you may have about the MEPS process feel free to ask, and I'll do my best. Tell your daughter to get a good nights sleep the night before, as this will be a very long day, and she needs to pay attention. Also when selecting a career field think how this will affect her duty locations and job experience in the civilian workplace. Just food for thought.

The best to you all,
Cindy

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Thanks, Cindy!

Yeah, it was arthroscopic surgery. Incredibly good surgeon, had her in PT the very next day. She was off the crutches within a week or so. Do you think that could make a difference?

As for her score, I was pretty blown away, and I am proud of her, but take no credit. She's who she is, I was just here for the show.

They'll be putting her up in a hotel the night before (the Wyndham -- sha! Must be nice!) I hope she does sleep, and not spend her night watching t.v. and calling room service! LOL!

Do they tell you WHERE the career choices will take you? She told me she saw a print out of about 5 pages, and estimated there was a total of about 120 jobs listed, but she did not get to look it over. As I mentioned, the recruiter was talking about linguist or intel. (I said, "Be leery if they want you to learn Dari or Russian...") She was interested in being an EMT before (she's certified as a clinical massage therapist), but I don't know where her heart lies these days. :shrug:

If any other questions pop up, I'll take advantage of your generous offer!

Once she gets qualified on the physical, they will talk to her about career fields/jobs. They will also want her to enlist in the Delayed Enlistment Program. Until she is 100% sure of what field she wants, advise her not to do this. She will be tired and easily talked into what ever is offered. She should take a day or 2 to think about things, weigh all options, schedule another MEPS visit, pick a job, swear (DEP) in, get a ship date, and thats about it. Please let me know how the knee goes. I would be optomistic about it, beings as it was arthroscopic and non evasive. As a recruiter, knees always made us nervous on physical day. If they disqualify her, the AF will more than likely do a waiver on her through their medical officials.

Well, they are going to do x-rays and stuff on her knees -- even though she did far better than the other women during the physical today.

Also, she couldn't fill the urine cup with someone watching her, so the staff sergeant made her drink a gallon of water. DD asked, "Can I weigh in first?" and SS said, "No, just drink."

The kid came in one pound over, and even though the sergeant told the doc that it was because she drank all that water, the doc was in a witchy mood and refused to accept that -- even after DD urinated and then was under weight. Also, they used body measurements instead of calipers to do body fat measurements.

So, the kid has to go in and pee in a cup tomorrow morning at 0500 hours. She can't weigh in again until at least 4 days go by. And she has to have the knees eval'd by the military docs.

She's not in a particularly happy mood, but then, she's pretty tired and had to go to work after all that fun.

Me, I'm kind of relieved, because when she goes in for career counseling, she won't be as worn out as she was today. She'll get in, it's just going to take a little more time.

Just reminder that everything happens for a reason. I don't know how AirFOrce MEPS works, but with the army, different job vacancies became available everyday and only stayed on the list until filled, then "Poof" they were gone. So, today her job might not have been available.

Glad things went OK, and things look like they are going to work out for her.